Football a 'hidden gem' at IU | RANDY BEARD COLUMN

Fred Glass enjoys bragging about the first head coach he had to hire as Indiana University's athletic director.

In his first season as the head men's soccer coach, Todd Yeagley led the Hoosiers to the regular-season Big Ten Conference championship last fall and was named the league coach of the year. So what does that mean for the second person Glass has hired as a head coach in his two and a half years as the Hoosiers' AD?

"I told Kevin Wilson that's kind of the standard for him with the football program, so I'm expecting great things from him as well," Glass told the Tailgate Tour lunch and golf crowd at Oak Meadow on Thursday when he visited Evansville with Yeagley, basketball coach Tom Crean and Don Fischer, the "Voice of the Hoosiers."

Glass was joking, of course. But he's quite serious about the expectations he has for IU football now that he's confident the program has the right leader.

After Wilson put the Indiana players through the paces during the spring, Fischer said the demanding practices were reminiscent of the days of Bill Mallory, who coached IU from 1984-96. Mallory had winning teams in six of his 13 seasons in Bloomington.

Wilson even hired Mallory's son Doug (who played at Michigan) as his assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator.

With the investment IU has made in the entire coaching staff — Wilson was given a seven-year deal worth $1.2 million per season — Glass believes the Hoosiers sent a message to rest of the Big Ten that they won't be satisfied with flirting with life in the cellar any longer.

"He has all the credentials and I think we're fortunate that we are the place he has chosen to get his push up to a head coach," said Glass of the former Oklahoma offensive coordinator who was hired in December to replace Bill Lynch, who won just six Big Ten games in four seasons. "He's tough-minded. He's a winner. He's an innovator and a communicator, and I think his career shows that.

"Kevin is a 'been there, done that' guy. Eight straight BCS games and four of the most prolific offenses in the history of college football."

Glass said that while Wilson may have created an initial culture shock with the players, they quickly adjusted.

"We have only lost one scholarship player in the transition, and I think that's fairly extraordinary," said Glass. "I think it reflects the buy-in these kids are giving him. I think they have responded to his toughness because they believe that's what it takes to win.

"We've been so close in games and maybe the difference was happenstance and the stars and the moon and all that, but maybe it was something else. Maybe we needed to be tougher minded. Maybe we needed to believe more in ourselves."

Glass said without the investment the university has made in expanding Memorial Stadium to 53,000 seats and adding a 25,000-square foot weight room, it would have been difficult to convince Wilson to lead the Hoosiers. "I think it's another way we owe a debt of gratitude to my predecessor, Rick Greenspan, and (former coach) Terry Hoeppner. It was really their vision to get the facilities where they are. We've tried to add to that by sprucing up areas of the stadium and the scoreboard and all those sorts of things ... I think (Wilson) believes we are a hidden gem with the vast improvements we have made in our facilities."

The upgrade in facilities and coaching staff appear to be paying off with IU fans, too. Glass said ticket sales for next season are ahead of the pace of a year ago when Indiana had a near-record year for attendance.

While Wilson didn't make the booster trip to Evansville this year, he's pulled in large crowds everywhere he has gone, including nearly 900 in Indianapolis.

"He's been really well received," said Glass. "He's a football coach. He's plain spoken. What you see is what you get ... I think people feel that when they see him and think we are in good hands."